British Politics and Policy

FOI

Lobbying in politics is nothing new, but the recent resignation of Liam Fox from his ministerial post due to his close relationship with Adam Werritty has placed a new spotlight on the activities of lobbyists and the power they wield inside government. David Beetham of Democratic Audit argues that the growth of lobbying, often shrouded in secrecy, is worrying. More […]

In its coalition agreement, the government pledged to build on the Freedom of Information Act and “extend transparency to every area of public life”. The Rt Hon Lord McNally, Minister of State for Justice, outlines the next steps that government will be taking to extend Freedom of Information and ensure the public have greater ability to hold them to account.

Despite initial opposition, Freedom of Information is one of the more successful government policies of the last decade. Now, many believe that it is time for the Act to be extended to private companies doing work for public bodies. Ben Worthy argues that while this is not proving to be easy, many Open Data initiatives are already allowing the public […]